During anterior fixation or plating of cervical vertebral bodies, the spine is approached from an anterior or anterio-lateral direction and bone screws are used to solidly mount a spinal plate to the affected vertebrae. In some instances, in addition to application of a spinal plate, graft material may be incorporated into the procedure to attempt to permanently fuse together adjacent vertebrae. Frequently, autologous bone, such as that extracted from the ilium, is used as bone graft material, but other bone grafts and devices may also be used.
Fixation of vertebrae is a common approach to treating various types of spinal disorders. In general terms, one or more vertebrae are typically fixed in position relative to one or more other vertebrae. Conventional anterior spinal fixation plates typically include a unitary plate having a pair of bone screw openings at opposite ends. These plates can typically be adjusted bi-directionally, but are sometimes awkward to use, expensive to manufacture, and have larger profiles. The plates may have complex adjustment mechanisms that make adjustment difficult during surgical procedures.
Thus, there remains a need for improved, inexpensive, and easy to use devices and methods for the fixation of vertebrae of the spine.